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Barrington consistent...
Ben Garner reports

Top seed Joey Barrington clinched victory in the all English battle for the Baltimore Cup, defeating Chris Ryder in the final.

The match was closer than the scoreline suggests, the three games lasting just under an hour. All the rallies were well contested, the ball being moved around accurately with nice changes of pace from both players.

However, Barrington’s superior consistency proved to be the difference between the finalists, with Ryder’s error count growing under constant pressure from the tournament favourite. Barrington’s play has improved as the week has progressed and he hasn’t dropped a game since the first round, fully justifying his status as the events top seed.

Despite the disappointment of losing in the final, Ryder will be delighted with his efforts this week having progressed through the qualifying competition – todays match was his sixth of the week!

14-Oct-06, Semis:

All English Final...
Ben Garner reports

An English winner is guaranteed in the Baltimore Cup after compatriots Joey Barrington and Chris Ryder both clinched convincing victories in the semi-finals.

Barrington looked sharp in his quickfire win over Wade Johnstone, who looked weary having twice overcome the seedings in five game battles earlier in the week. The top seed was getting onto the ball early and kept Johnstone behind him and under constant pressure.

Ryder was equally impressive as he emerged victorious in the battle of the surprise semi-finalists against Rob Sutherland. With his confidence high after a recent run of good form, the World Universities Champion dominated the match with his speed around the court and excellent racket skills.

13-Oct-06, Quarters:

Unlucky for some in Baltimore
Ben Garner reports

Friday the 13th proved to be unlucky for the higher ranked players in the Baltimore Cup. For the second day running upsets abounded to leave only one seeded player left in the semi-finals – top seed Joey Barrington.

In the most dramatic match of the day, Australian Wade Johnstone fought back from two games down to defeat compatriot Raj Nanda. It was a contentious match with the referee heavily involved but Johnstone, who coaches at the Meadow Mill club in Baltimore, eventually emerged victorious after surviving a fourth game time break.

Chris Ryder continued his run of good form with a four game victory over the club professional Ben Garner. Ryder, who recently won the World Universities Championship, got off to a flying start and established a two game lead before Garner got into the match. However Ryder kept his composure secure a four game victory. In the semi-finals he will face Welshman Rob Sutherland who won a tight contest against qualifier David Phillips.

Top-seeded Englishman Barrington won a long three game match against Luke Margan. The rallies were generally well contested but the difference came from Margan’s higher error count.

2005 Event

Joey Barrington



Chris Ryder

Ben Garner

Wade Johnstone

11/8,11/3,11/7 (58 mins)

Chris Ryder

Chris Ryder

Qualifying:

Finals, 11-Oct:
Chris Ryder bt Yann Perrin                       11/8, 11/3, 11/4
Patrick Chifunda bt Amr Ramzy Swelim     7/11, 11/10(2-0), 11/9, 5/11, 11/9
David Phillips bt Jose Becerril                   11/7,11/9,11/8
Luke Margan bt Andre Holderegger           11/9, 11/5, 11/10(2-0)

First Round:
Luke Margan  bye
Andre Holderegger (Sui) bt David Barnett (Eng)        11/9, 8/11, 11/8, 11/10
Amr Ramzy Swelim (Egy) bt Lucky Odeh (Ngr)         11/2, 11/3 ,11/0
Patrick Chifunda (Zam) bt Ryan Donegan (Usa)       8/11,11/10(2-0),11/5,11/10(2-0)
Yann Perrin (Fra) bt Patrick Bedore (Can)                11/9, 11/6, 11/10(2-0)
Chris Ryder (Eng) bt Joe Millman (Eng)                    11/4, 11/1, 11/1
Jose Angel Bercerril (Mex) bt Rob McFadzean (Usa)  10/11(1-3), 11/4, 11/7, 11/7
David Phillips (Can) bt Bertrand Tissot (Fra)             7/11, 11/7,11/4, 11/5


2005 Event

10-Oct-06:
Multi-National Qualifying
in Baltimore ...
Ben Garner reports

There was a multinational look to the qualification matches played today. Eight different nationalities were represented and the four players who made it through to the main draw come from four different continents!

For the second day running Zambia’s Patrick Chifunda caused the biggest upset, and yet again he was also involved in the longest match of the session. Chifunda, who used to be based in Baltimore, scored a memorable victory over Egypt’s Amr Ramzy Swelim, winning 11-9 in the fifth after 70 minutes.

After a closely fought first game, England’s Chris Ryder completed a relatively comfortable victory over Yann Perrin.

Canadian David Phillips showed excellent hold and deception to overcome the retrieving skills of Jose Becerril before Australia’s representation was secured with Luke Margan’s tight three game victory.

Qualifying under way in Baltimore
Ben Garner reports

Qualifying got under way today in the Baltimore Cup, held at the Baltimore Country Club in Maryland.

The only upset came in the longest match of the day as Patrick Chifunda battled past Ryan Donegan in four tough games lasting 70 minutes. It was a closely fought, attritional match with many long rallies which Donegan often dominated, but Chifunda’s electric speed around the court would eventually force an error on the crucial points.

All the other matches went to seeding but there were some nervous moments for the higher ranked players, with Andre Holderegger saving game balls in the fourth against David Barnett to prevent the match going into a fifth game decider and David Phillips and Jose Angel Bercerril both having to comeback from a game down.

The pro-am doubles event also got underway today, an event which provides for some great interaction between the members and the professionals and enables the players to get a taste of the hardball version of the game.